Driving mechanism for glass working machines



A ril w, 1940.

Filed Sept. 15, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 17%0mr YT/ husom p w, 1940 'r. F. PEARSON 6 DRIVING MECHANISM FOR GLASS WORKING MACHINES Filed. Sept. 15, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

5 4 i E a 1 I, 2 .\\\\\\k l Ira/W T. F. PEARSON DRIVING MECHANISM FOR GLASS WORKING MACHINES riE M, 29406 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 15, 1936 mUU MMH Patented Apr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES 2,197,436 DRIVING MEGIgqANISM FOR GLASS WORK- GMAG HINES Thomas Finney Pearson, Pontefract, England, as-

signor to Crown Cork & Seal New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Company, 1110.,

York

Application September 15, 1936', Serial No. 100,942 In Great Britain September 23, 1935 12 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in the driving mechanism for glass feeding and forming machines, that is to say machines adapted to periodically discharge from a furnace charges of molten glass, for reception in parison or other moulds for the manufacture of glass articles therein.

The primary object of this invention is to enable one or more parts of a glass feeding machine or of a glass forming machine fed therefrom to be coupled to a driving mechanism by a clutch capable of transmitting the drive in one or more predetermined relative positions alone of the parts.

Further objects of this invention are to provide means for the gradual taking up of the drive for the purpose of avoiding shock, the provision of means for throwing the clutch out oi operation on overload, the provision of an; additional load for preventing separation of the driving and driven members at starting, and the provision of means whereby the temporary additional load for use at starting is automatically cut out subsequent to starting.

The invention is of particular use when ap plied to a glass feeding machine including for instance a paddle or the like means for maintaining, circulation of glass in the boot of the furnace and a pick-up device, such as a. suction gathering head, with or without auxiliary devices such as shears. When so used, a clutch is interposed between a common driving means for these elements and the pick-up device so that the paddle may remain in operation without operation of the pick-up device or gathering head or the like device for periodically removing a charge of glass therefrom, the clutch being such that it can only fully automatically engage the gathering head drive to the common drive including the paddle, at a predetermined position of the paddle inits movement, such for instance to allow the gathering head to pick up a charge immediately after the paddle has moved away from the front wall of the furnace leaving a clean surface of glass at the gathering place.

The present invention provides means for driving a plurality of machines, or a plurality of related parts of the same machine, in a predetermined relation to each other, as totime and position. Means are provided whereby one machine, or one element of a machine, may be disconnected from' its driving means to interrupt its operation. The clutch of the present invention is so constructed that, when that machine or that part of the machine is again put into operation, its movements will be properly related to the.

other machine, or to the other parts of the same machine. To this end, the clutch has a plurality of predetermined driving positions, any one of which will serve to drive themachine in proper. relation to the other machines. The clutch is capable of efiecting a driving action, only whenin one of those predetermined positions.

Where a forming machine is co-operating directly with the feeder a similar clutch may be disposed between the feeder and the forming machine to allow the latter to be stopped if desired irrespective of the continued operation of part of the feeding machine, for instance, the aforesaid paddle, but ensuring that on therecoupling of the forming machine to the com mon drive, a mould on the same will be in a set predetermined position relatively to the feeder or to the place at which the charge is delivered therefrom. Where in this case the forming machine has a plurality of moulds the clutch will have a corresponding number of synchronised engagement positions.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a worm ring from a drive which forms one part to be clutched for engagement with, a rotary table of a glassware forming machine carrying a number of moulds. which table constitutes the other part.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation through the clutch part of Figure l, the rotary table (not shown in Figure 1), and the clutch mechanism with the latter in its inoperative position.

Figure 3 is a side sectional elevation of Figure 2 taken substantiallyon line 3-3 of Figure 2, but with the clutch pin in its operative position.

Figure l is a side View of the clutch pin.

Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 but of a modified form of clutch and with the latter in its operative position.

Figure 5a is a detail of Figure 5a-5a thereof.

Figure 6 is a side sectional elevation similar to that of Figure 3 but of a further modified form of clutch.

Figure 'I is a corresponding sectional; elevation transversely through the clutch mechanism, taken on line 1l of Figure 6.

In the drawings the driven member Ill constitutes a rotary table carrying mould units (not shown) whilst the driving member consists-of a worm ring I! which is rotated by aworm l2 from any source of power supply The driven 5, taken on line Cir member is slotted at l3 to receive the sleeve 14 of a clutch pin IS, the shoe l 6 of which has tapering sides I! and is also tapered longitudinally at l8, IS.

The worm ring H has a number of circumfer" entially spaced grooves 20 formed on its upper radial face, said grooves being of varying depth from one end 2! at which they merge into the plane of the upper radial face of the ring H to a deep'end 22 where an abutment 23 is provided for engagement by the inclined face I 9 of the shoe l6. Thus the grooves 28 taper both transversely and also longitudinally, the transverse taper being shown in Figure 2 and the longitudinal taper being shown in Figure 3. The trans verse width of the base of the shoe I6 is substantially equal to the width of the base of the groove 20, so that as the shoe l6 enters the groove 20 at its shallow end 2| and approaches the deep end 22 it gradually engages with said groove progressively over a larger face of its tapered. walls I! in order to take up the drive gradually as distinct from suddenly.

The clutch pin I5 is resiliently loaded by means of a spring 24 which surrounds the pin and extends between the base of an adjusting gland 25 and a collar 26 of the pin located within a sleeve like bracket 21 carried by the table It. The spindle portion 28 of the pin above the gland 25 is pivotally mounted at 37 to a lever 29 which is pivotally mounted at 3| on an arm 32 which carries a ratchet 30 and is secured to the bracket 21 The operating rod 33 under the control of the handle lever 34 carries a pawl 35 resiliently loaded at 3% to engage with the ratchet 39. It will thus be seen that when the lever 29 is maintained in its neutral position a normal load is created by the spring 24 on the shoe 1 6. On raising the lever 29 after tipping the pawl the pin l5 may be longitudinally-and downwardly displaced within the bracket 27 to increase the load on the shoe during starting operation, and prevent the withdrawal of the shoe 16 from its groove during said starting when the load tending to separate the driving and the driven elements is greater than during normal running. By depressing the lever 29 to its maximum extent the shoe l6 of the clutch pin l5 be removed from a groove 20 against the action of the spring 24, whilst in the event of overload of the driven member on the driving member the leading tapered edge 19 of the shoe is will ride over the inclined abutment surface 23 at the deep edge of the groove to provide automatic termination of the drive between members l and H),

In the construction illustrated in Figure 5, the upper end of the spindle 28 is provided with a collar 38 recessed on its upper face to receive the lower end of a'second spring 39, the upper end of which is situated within a recess in the lower face of a collar 40. The collar .0 carries a cam 4| having an operating arm 42. The spindle 43 which is bifurcated at its lower end to surround an extension on the upper end of the spindle 28 extends through the collar 40, the cam 4! and the cam guide 44 secured to a bracket 55 which in turn is secured to the bracket 21. The cam 46 operated by a handle M is adapted to engage with the lower face 48 of the collar 33 on the upper end of the spindle 28. It will thus be seen that when the handle 41 is inits neutral position, i. e. lies vertically as shown in the draw ings, the spring 24 exerts its normal load on the shoe l6 consistent with ordinary running of the cams il, M respectively the collar M1 is depressed to impart an additional load on the shoe it by virtue of the second spring 39. As soon as starting has been eifected, release of the handle 42 by the operator will enable this to return to its original position, so that it is impossible to maintain a load greater than the ordinary load during operation of the machine after starting.

In the modified form of construction illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 the driving member l i is provided with circumferentially spaced projections 50 instead of recesses whilst the shoe i6 is recessed at 5| to engage about the projections 50. The projections 50 have tapered sides 52 and are tapered longitudinally as shown at 53 whilst an abutment 56 is provided at the rear end of each. Similarly the recess 51 in the shoe I8 has tapered side walls, the cross section of the recess at the lead end of the shoe being greater than at the rear end due to the formation of a shoulder 54 in the shoe which is adapted to 1. A clutch assembly comprising a driving member having a circumferentially disposed transversely tapered groove of varying depth formed thereon with a driving abutment at the deep end thereof, a driven member, a resiliently loaded clutch pin of similar transverse width and taper carried by said driven member and adapted to ride in said groove, manual means for shifting said pin from an operative driving position in said groove to an inoperative position out of said groove, and a manually operable latch mechanism for holding said pin in said inoperative position.

2. A clutch assembly comprising a. driving member having a plane radial face, a plurality of arcuate, circumferentially aligned, spaced grooves in said face which are similarly tapered transversely, are of varying depth lengthwise in the same direction, and have a driving abutment at the deep end, a driven member, and a resiliently loaded clutch pin having an end of a width and transverse taper similar to said grooves, said pin being carried by said driven member and movable in a line parallel to the axis of the driving member and adapted for engagement Within any one of said grooves to clutch said driving and said driven members.

3. A clutch assembly comprising a driving annular member having on one radial face a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves which are similarly tapered transversely, are of varying depth in the same direction and have a driving abutment at the deep end, a circular driven member within said annular driving member and overlapping the latter on one face, and a resiliently loaded clutch pin carried by said overlapping portion of said driven member and having a similar depth and transverse taper adapted for engagement within any one of said grooves on the radial face of said driving annular member to clutch said driving and said driven members.

4. A clutch assembly comprising a driving annular member having a plane radial face, a plurality of circumferentially aligned, spaced, arcuate grooves in said face which are tapered transversely, are of varying depth lengthwise in the same direction, and have a tapered driving abutment at the deep end, a driven member and a resiliently loaded clutch pin carried thereby, said pin having a foot of a width and transverse taper similar to said grooves and being provided with an end face tapered similarly to that of said driving abutment, said clutch pin and foot being carried by said driven member and being movable axially of the driving member to effect engagement of the foot within any one of said grooves to clutch said driving and said driven members together in any one of a plurality of predetermined angular relations only.

5. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving. member having a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves formed in a radial face thereof, said grooves being similarly tapered transversely, of varying depth in the same direction and having a tapered driving abutment at the deep end, an annular driven member, a clutch pin of similar width and transverse taper carried by said driven member and disposed with its axis parallel to the axis of the driving mem ber, and having a tapered end facing said radial face similar to that of said tapered abutment and an adjustable load on said clutch pin for maintaining engagement of said clutch pin in any one of said grooves to clutch said driving and said driven members together in any one of a plurality of predetermined angular relations only.

6. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves, which are similarly tapered transversely, are of varying depth in the same direction and have a tapered driving abutment at the dep end, an annular driven member, a clutch pin of similar width and transverse taper carried by said driven member, and having a tapered end similar to that of said tapered abutment and a pair of independently adjustable loads, and manual control means for said loads, adapted for maintaining engagement of said pin within one of said grooves during normal driving of said driven member by said driving member under the influence of one of said loads only, and for applying an additional load to said pin on starting.

'7. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves, which are similarly tapered transversely, are of varying depth in the same direction and have a tapered driving abutment at the deep end, an annular driven member, a clutch pin of similar Width and transverse taper carried by said driven member, and having a tapered end similar to that of said tapered abutment, a pair of independently adjustable springs disposed coaxially of said pin, and control means for said springs adapted for maintaining engagement of said pin within one of said grooves under the influence of one of said spring only during normal driving of said driven member by said driving member, and adapted for applying the force of the other spring to said pin to effect an additional resilient load on starting, said control means comprising cam operated means for applying said additional load.

8. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a plurality'of circumferentially spaced grooves, which are similarly tapered transversely, are of varying depth in the same direction and have a tapered driving abut ment at the deep end, an annular driven member, a clutch pin of similar width and transverse taper carried by said driven member, and having a tapered end similar to that of said tapered abutment, a pair of independently adjustable springs disposed coaxially of said pin, one adapted for maintaining engagement of said pin within one of said grooves. during normal driving of said driven member by said driving member, and the other adapted for applying an additional and resilient load on starting, and manually operated means for applying said additional load and for releasing the same subsequent to starting.

9. A clutch assembly comprising a driving member, at least one circumferentially disposed transversely tapered projection thereon of varying depth from end to end, a driving abutment at the deep end of said projection, a driven member, a resiliently loaded clutch pin carried by said driven member and having a recess complementary in section to that of said projection, and an abutment at one end of said pin for interengagement with said driving abutment on said driving member.

10. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a plane radial face, a plurality of circumferentially spaced and circumferentially elongated clutch surfaces, each disposed in a plane inclined rearwardly at a relatively low pitch to the plane of said face, and a relatively steeply inclined abutment surface at the rear end of each of said surfaces, a circular driven member concentric with said driving member, and a resiliently loaded clutch pin carried by the driven member and having an end overlying said plane radial face and adapted to effect engagement with said inclined surfaces of the driving member, said end having one surface positioned and inclined to mate with the firstmentioned inclined surface on the driving member and another surface positioned and inclined to mate with said steeply inclined abutment surface thereon.

11. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a plane radial face and a plurality of groups of circumferentially spaced clutch surfaces associated with said face, said groups each including a circumferentially elongated surface on a plane disposed at an acute angle to said radial face and being joined to said face at its side edges by inclined, circumferentially tapering side surfaces, said elongated surface terminating at its rear end in a relatively steep abutment surface, a driven member concentric to said driving member and having a portion. overlying said radial face of the latter, and a resiliently loaded clutch element carried by the overlying portion of the driven member and juxtaposed to said radial face, said element having surfaces disposed on planes corresponding respectively to said elongated surface, said side surfaces and said abutment surface.

12. A clutch assembly comprising an annular driving member having a radial face, a circular driven member concentric therewith and having a portion overlying said face, a plurality of similar sets of circumferentially spaced clutch surfaces on said driving member, a resiliently loaded clutch pin carried by the driven member and having a set of clutch surfaces on its lower end, movable axially of the members and positioned to engage and mate with one or another of the sets of clutch surfaces on the driving member to establish driving relation between the members in one or another of a plurality of predetermined angular relations only, the sets of clutch surfaces on the driving member and the clutch pin being substantially complemental, one set comprising a projection having circumferentially elongated tapered side surfaces, and a transversely disposed, relatively steeply inclined end wall, the other set comprising a recess having tapered side surfaces adapted to mate with the first-mentioned tapered side surfaces, and a transversely disposed, relatively steeply inclined end wall adapted to abut and mate with the firstmentioned end wall to establish driving relation between the members.

THOMAS FINNEY PEARSON. 

